Welcome to Course One of Photography Basics and Beyond: From Smartphone to DSLR! In these first 4 Modules you will gain the knowledge and the confidence that will help you make good choices as you consider qualities of the camera you own, and the qualities of the other types of digital cameras you might be considering. You will learn about the basic functions that most digital cameras have in common. You will also go beyond the "technical" matters and learn about how you can make exciting pictures by emphasizing the aspects of Frame and Vantage Point to interpret old subjects in new ways. Discovering accessories that photographers find useful, and the types of camera bags from mini to carry-on sized, is also in store for you. You will also make your first photographs and, if you are a subscriber to the specialization, upload pictures to the web gallery and start interacting with your fellow learners in our "Gallery." Let's get started with Module One!

From the lesson

Picture Decisions: The Vantage Point and Frame

In Module Four we will turn to concepts related to the way photographs look, and how practical decisions that are unique to photography can have dramatic effect in terms of what their creative content might be. We examine the aspects of Vantage Point and Frame as essential choices that must be made by photographers no matter what their ultimate goal for image-making. We also introduce the Peer Review process for paid-Learners, and the ways we can learn about our own ideas through using "terms of art" in written reviews the photographs of fellow Learners.